Interviews with creative, ambitious types

Shuang Hu

Actress Shuang Hu appears in two of my favourite Australian tv shows of late: TheFamily Law and Ronny Chieng International Student.

Shuang - or Shu as her friends call her - is from China, raised in Brisbane and now living in Los Angeles. She talks about auditioning, memories of snow and what she’s reading. Oh, and the family Law is like her real family now.

Louisa Deasey

Melbourne-based writer Louisa Deasey was contacted by a French family, via Facebook, whose grandmother in her last days called out for Louisa’s father. It sets Louisa off on a path of discovery - reconnecting her with the father she hardly knew - and the story of A Letter From Parisunfolds.

In this interview, Louisa talks ghosts, time travel, family and money. Oh, and astrologer Mystic Medusa also gets a mention.

Luisa Brimble

World’s collide! Photographer Luisa Brimble has worked with a few of our Head Ovary Heels guests. Luisa does My Open Kitchen workshops with Sophie Hansen. She photographed Clare Press’s fashion label Mrs Press, back in the day. And Luisa is a fan of my old boss Gary Vaynerchuk.

Luisa is a true, original delight in this episode. She talks about starting photography, looking for context in everything that she shoots and being her own agent.

Alyssa Sutherland

My shield-maiden co-workers were addicted to to the tv series Vikings. I overheard the intense conversations and saw their Rollo screensavers and decided to jump into the series over Christmas. To use a Viking word, I became enthralled.

I loved the character of Aslaug, Ragnor Lothbrok’s second wife, played by Alyssa Sutherland. I loved how much she loved her sons. It felt very modern to me.

I had interviewed Alyssa 17 years earlier for Black+White magazine. I sent an email to her agent and was able to set up a time with her across the Pacific. I loved chatting with Alyssa - she was smart and funny and brazen.

“No one should listen to me for beauty advice,” she told me. She also talked about the photographers she had worked with. On this page is a favourite Carlotta Moye pic and some Aslaug GIFs, of course.

Molly Goddard

As this is a special beauty-themed season of Head Ovary Heels we ask Molly for her favourite everyday beauty brands and in return she tells us how much she loves a bath and being in the sun. “I could just sit on the beach, all day, everyday.”

Jamila Rowser

Jamila Rowser’s Twitter bio (used to) say: Community Builder. And it’s spot on. Jamila is behind Geek Girl Brunch - an international meetup of women who geek out together over mimosas. She’s also one-half of the creative force behind Straight Outta Gotham, a hip hop and geek culture newsletter. And Jamila is also bringing to the world an all-girl created comic called Wash Day.

“I wanted to celebrate these moments that aren’t talked about that much, but are a big part of our lives.” The story follows Kimana, a 26-year-old Afro-Latina woman living in the Bronx, as she cares for her long, thick hair.

On the podcast, Jamila talks style and beauty: her love for Fenty products, a catseye and a bold lip. And even though she lives in Florida, you’ll find Jamila wearing all black with a pop of colour.

Oh, and we talk about place. Jamila is an air force brat, born in England, raised in Hawaii and educated in Germany. She talks about the confidence she has gained from an international childhood on the move.

Peony Lim

“I’m a digital dinosaur,” says Peony Lim who has made a living from her personal website for the past decade. While at university Peony was spotted by that first wave of street style photographers (shout out to Vanessa Jackman!) and went on to create her own presence online.

Of course, for this special beauty-themed series of Head Ovary Heels we asked Peony all our beauty questions. In return, we learnt about setting sprays, having a bath to keep your makeup on and her travel tips.

“I feel that real beauty comes from difference, not from conforming to some kind of generic stereotype,” says Peony. Amen to that.

Dina Broadhurst

Dina Broadhurst is one of my favourite artists on Instagram. Her work is bold and sexy and exciting. It was such a pleasure to speak with her about her art, life and beauty routines, such as curled eyelashes, light foundation from MAC and a lip balm from Elizabeth Arden.

Sydney-based Broadhurst trained as a makeup artist, worked in magazines and advertising and now makes a living as an artist with her large-scale photography and collage works. It was all leading to this point!

Sigourney Cantelo

I first met Sigourney over email when I would write beauty stories for her at Vogue Australia. I’ve always admired Sigourney as an editor and writer (she has a lovely turn of phrase).

Four years ago, Sigourney left Vogue to work full-time on her website Beauticate. In this episode she talks about her evolution as a businesswoman, mother and a woman who doesn’t necessarily juggle life: “I just drop things.” Yep, she’s the real deal.

Tom McInerney

Tom McInerney is the chief makeup artist for the Netflix series Vikings. I can’t think of another show on television where the story is told through makeup.

We know when characters are going into battle through their warpaint, dramatic eyeliner tells us that Floki is the pagan heart of the show and the characters age throughout the series thanks to extremely clever aesthetics.

For our first bloke interview on Head Ovary Heels, we interviewed Irishman Tom McInerney. He talks about his past experience on Michael Hirst’s The Tudors, battle scenes on Vikings and everything he’s learned from the women in his profession.

Jumana Hammouda

In 2018, Jumana Hammouda and her sister Lama Perin launched Bodibar - a vegan body scrub made from all natural Australian ingredients. Jumana talks about the joys and challenges of creating a beauty product from scratch.

But before launching Bodibar, Jumana lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and ran a luxury day spa. Of course, I was fascinated to find out about running a business in Saudi Arabia, what do Saudi women want and what is life really like in Saudi Arabia? Jumana tells all.

Season 4 A Beautiful Shebang

So I had an idea to launch a beauty podcast. I still might. I wanted to call it Vermilion. I spent a weekend setting up all new social media accounts for my beauty-to-be podcast and felt exhausted with a whole new set of logins (of which I have many). My friend Ryan (who I get all my creative advice from) said why don’t you just fold it into Head Ovary Heels? You already have an audience and everything set up. He was right.

The idea I had with a beauty podcast was to create an audio version of all the incredible beauty websites that exist and the stories told on them, like Into The Gloss, Beauticate and The File. I love the details of women’s lives. I love how beauty digs into those quotidian nooks and crannies.

I should note, from concepting a beauty-themed podcast to delivering it - I’ve discovered some really great podcasts that cover similar territory that you should definitely check out like Fat Mascara and At Home With.

Thank you so much to all of the guests. The guests who gave their time, honesty and approached it with the most generous spirit. I’m forever grateful.

Special thanks to this season’s sponsor: In Good Co, an app you should download straight away and start recommending to your friends.

Ovaries and out.

Meg Mason

Meg Mason is the author of You Be Mother (Harper Collins) and Say It Again In a Nice Voice. I'm enthralled with Meg's life story. She grew up in New Zealand's Palmerston North. She moved to Sydney as a teen and, get this, never read a book. She caught up on the English-language canon in Year 12 then studied English at university. Meg was married straight outta uni and had daughters young. This is Meg's metier - motherhood, family, life. We talk about our fondness for Jenny Offill's Department of Speculation. And Meg's not a Facebook person. Meg wisely notes: "Facebook is something that you can never finish."

Lindy Morrison

Mother, drummer, social worker: It's Lindy Morrison.

Brisbane-raised Lindy Morrison was the drummer of my favourite Australian band of all time, The Go-Betweens.

The Go-Betweens was formed by song-writing duo Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. Lindy was the drummer in the band over six albums. Like an Australian Fleetwood Mac, she was in a relationship with Robert (she was seven years his senior). While Grant was in a relationship with fellow band member Amanda Brown.

Just released in Australian cinemas is the documentary The Go-Betweens: Right Here, from filmmaker Kriv Stenders (Red Dog). The documentary is incredible: it’s about music, a life’s work, lovers, friends, fallings out and reconciliations. On camera, Lindy is the most formidable character in the pop drama.

But Lindy is more than the drummer of Australia’s greatest pop band. She continues to do social work with Support Act and she’s active in the recorded music copyright space with PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia). She’s also a mother. Lindy talks about how Facebook made her feel less lonely and what she does on her iPad at night.

Clarice Chian

I remember what a revelation Instagram Stories was for me. For the first time I heard women, I had been following for years, speak. It was like a transition from silent films to talkies. I saw my Instagram crushes outside the carefully staged photos they presented on my phone. I got a non-Instagram peek into their lives.

That's kind of how I felt interviewing Clarice Chian (@Brigadeirochoc). I had followed her on Instagram, along with 100,000 others for so long. I knew she lived in Adelaide and went to Fashion Week and created content for brands but I didn't really know who she was.

It was great to catch up with her and find out about her life growing up on three continents: Brazil, the UK and Australia. Her three careers, first in science, then law and now content creation. And also how she started in the Vogue Forums (important Australian women's internet history!).

Anna Ross

Anna Ross is the founder of Kester Black - an ethical beauty brand based in Melbourne. Before Kester Black sold nail polish, under the label Anna sold silver jewellery and fashion.

These days Anna works with a team of eight to sell nail polish and beauty products around the world. She has a vision board in her room with "$100 million plus" written on it to push her to her goal of building a business beyond her dreams.

Get into Anna's phone and business dreams with her fave Instagram accounts and business books.

Emily Armstrong

Craft confession: Saturday night and I was cutting up old magazines for a collage project. There was Emily's name on the masthead of British Vogue: Emily Armstrong, Associate Publisher, just below Publishing Director Stephen Quinn . I was so impressed in that moment.

Funnily enough, I didn't know Emily from her Vogue career. I'd found her on Instagram. Her account the Paradise Catcher is a fave. Then while stalking Georgie Abay of the Grace Tales I closed the Emily Armstrong-slash-Paradise Catcher loop when I spied a profile on Emily and her basket empire.

I wrote in my TinyLetter about how I love her bag company. How you select the basket of your choice, an icon and your initials. It's so genius. So it was terrific to talk to this Brisbane-raised gal about her career, life as a mother, bag-lady and online ambitions.

Jade Sarita Arnott

I'm not the only one who admires Jade Sarita Arnott's style. There's a picture of her, in double denim, photographed by Garance Dore. It's pinned all over Pinterest. There's a follow up pic with Jade in all pink, also by Garance. The pics are a lovely monochrome pair.

In this episode we talk about the story behind those two photos. And also Jade's fascination with the photographs of the Brown Sisters by Nicholas Nixon. Jade talks about starting her fashion line Arnsdorf. She mentions putting the brand on hold while her children are small and launching back into it.

Gale Mayron

Whenever I get off the phone from someone I think, that was the best interview ever! I felt that way after speaking with Gale Mayron of Jao Brand because Gale brings it with total honesty, integrity and street smarts.

Gale Mayron has the beauty brand Jao. But it's more than a beauty brand. Her first product was the Jao Refresher. (I've pasted a pic of Mandy Moore below holding her hand sanitiser. It really is the best to travel with or keep on your desk. It smells incredible and is all natural.) Gale also has Goe Oil,Coiffette (my fave), Jao lip balm and a bunch of other products.

In this episode Gale talks about everything, including being a partner, having children and running a business. "I think I balance it because I don't care as much as some women do. You have to be a little more selfish. You have to be a little more trusting that your kids are going to be ok." Trust me, Gale is right about everything.

Gina Gretchko

In this episode Gina talks about her time at college, choosing careers and landing at Saks. She's the woman behind Saks's million follower strong Instagram account and she'd like us to follow @Saks_Mens too!

It was great chatting to Gina about seeing the shows in Paris, her fashionable life and the role of social media, "Instagram is my constant". She gave us some accounts to follow too! @Obsesseeand @OfficeNewsStand

Meagan Cignoli

Meagan Cignoli has always been on the list of people to interview for Head Ovary Heels. Her work is incredible. She's a 35-year-old #girlboss. She runs Visual Country, a studio in Manhattan that creates short-form video content for the world's biggest brands. Run, don't walk to the Visual Country Instagram.

Meagan talks about the different paths she took to find her career. She spills on growing up on Long Island, her start on six-second video app Vine and her desire to never be a starving artist. She talks about running a business and learning how to be a leader (she attended every HR-themed talk she could at SXSW). She's a total inspiration.

Karina Machado

Karina and I worked together at the turn of the century on a women's magazine that no longer exists. I felt like, even back then, Karina was always going to write a book. Fast forward and she's written four books: Love Never Dies, Where Spirits Dwell,Spirit Sisters and Awaken.

Karina's carved out a niche in the supernatural - collecting ghost stories from her family and from other women. She credits her interest in the spiritual world to her mother and her home country of Uruguay.

These days Karina is a senior editor at WHO Weekly. And she continues to write more books.

Kerrie Hess

I first met Kerrie more than a dozen years ago in New York City on the Lower East Side. She had a beauty line that was for sale at uptown department store Henri Bendel and I was writing for Vogue Australia.

Fast-forward quite a few years and I'm back in Australia. From Instagram stalking Kerrie, I had guessed she lived in the same Brisbane suburb as me. So I emailed her and she replied. I invited her over to my house to chat for Head Ovary Heels. It was so great catching up with Kerrie about life, art and Brisbane.

Meanwhile you should totally follow Kerrie on Instagram. You can buy her prints here and see all her work on her website.

Kate Winslow

Themes are emerging in these Head Ovary Heels interviews. Mostly, life before the internet, life after the internet.

I loved talking to Kate Winslow about her life and career so far: growing up in Pittsburgh, cooking on a ranch in Wyoming and working for a newspaper in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There was her time at Gourmet magazine under Ruth Reichl, a trip to Sicily that produced a cookbook and then back to New Jersey.

These days Kate is on the promotional trail for her cookbook Onions Etc. with photos by her husband and creative partner Guy Ambrosino.

Lee Tran Lam

There's that Anais Nin quote that a friend opens up new worlds. I would also add that a chat with a really interesting woman can turn you on to new things.

From this conversation with Lee Tran, I binged on Missing Richard Simmons podcast and then went on a Twitter frenzy about native Australian fruit finger limes - they're incredible!

Lee Tran has written for many magazines including HQ (vale), Rolling Stone and Time Out Sydney. She has a website The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry and a podcast of the same name where she interviews everyone she wants to speak with in the Sydney food scene and beyond. Lee Tran also hosts Local Fidelity on Sydney's FBi Radio. Oh, and you can always catch Lee Tran at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art's zine fair.

You can follow Lee Tran all over the Internet. Subscribe to her podcast on iTunes. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Ursula Lake

You know I love a lady with side hustle. Ursula Lake grew up just outside of London. Her first (assistant) styling gig was on a Mario Testino shoot of Liz Hurley. The picture hangs in the National Portrait Gallery (and pasted here)

Ursula was fashion editor at the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine for 11 years. She still does freelance styling but she runs a swimwear line Violet Lake and has a publishing project with photographer Chloe Mallett (she shoots Anthropologie catalogues!) called Make Magazine.

Now there's a gazillion places you can follow Ursula. Ursula being funny on Instagram. Violet Lake swimwear on Instagram. Make Magazine on Instagram.

Nora Kogan

Nora Kogan had a boutique on Fifth Avenue, South Slope near where I lived in Brooklyn. At the time her jewelery store was called St Kilda and I guessed she was Australian. I was right. She was from Melbourne by way of the Ukraine. We started talking and I liked her immediately. She was funny and bright and I just knew she had a great life story.

To top it off, her jewellery (you can shop online or at her Williamsburg boutique) is hilarious, elegant and visceral. Just like Nora! Her distinctive bijoux are worn by Madonna, Scout Willis and Susie Lau.

I was so pleased to talk to Nora in this episode of Head Ovary Heels. Nora was in her apartment in Park Slope. I was on the verandah of our Queenslander in Brisbane. At one point the electricity went out (such is our old Queenslander) and I had to run downstairs to the fuse box, flick the switch, turn on the modem and get the internet going again. Thankfully Nora was chill throughout.

Nora has such an amazing life story, I think I should get her back for another episode soon. But first, you should follow her everywhere. Here's Nora on Instagram and Twitter.

I had the good fortune to go to university with Soph and we've stayed in touch over the years. At uni in Canberra, Soph had that Sydney girl sheen. She was really bright and stylish and I wanted to be friends with her.

In this episode Soph talks about working in magazines in Sydney, joining the slow food movement in Italy, meeting her husband Tim and getting engaged in three months! Soph is so fun. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Nora Finds

Nora Finds is Nora Thoeng. She's an Australian Indonesian Chinese gal who lives in London. I've been following Nora on social for years! I think I found her on Tumblr. I recognised the Sydney locations of her shoots and loved that a local lass was wearing vintage so beautifully.

I caught up with Nora in her London flat over Skype. We talked about growing up in Sydney, her experiences at school in Jakarta, the complementary nature of her science job (Nora works in a brain research lab) and her vintage fashion past-time.

Karina Waters

Karina Waters is undertaking the renovation of a lifetime. She and her husband purchased the Chateau de Gudanes on the border of France and Spain in 2013. The chateau is a social media star in her own right; she has an Instagram and makes frequent appearances in magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. (Sidenote: these Harper's Bazaar portraits were taken by our fave Aussie photographer in Paris Carla Coulson who has also been on Head Ovary Heels).

I caught up with Karina on Skype while she was back in Perth, over Christmas. I felt so energised after the call. She was so fun and honest and full of life. The chateau needs her!

We talked about Karina's early life in Perth, her responsibility to the chateau and what this stage in life means to her. Hope you enjoy the episode!

Carla Coulson

In that kind of six degrees of internet separation, photographer Carla Coulson came to us via Jennie Hogg of cashmere shawl line Lois Avery. I then spent a night discovering Carla's pics all over the internet.

I couldn't wait to speak with her from her studio in Paris and hear about her editorial work, books, commissions, artwork and mentoring sessions. It was super inspiring and fun to say the least.

Am also really proud that we're Carla's first podcast! Yay, for Head Ovary Heels.

Karen McCartney

Oh, let us count the ways we're inspired by Karen McCartney. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Karen moved to London for university. While at uni, Karen ran a market stall on weekends, selling (and styling) items picked up from jumble sales. Karen broke into publishing in London and then years later moved to Australia to work on marie claire lifestyle magazine. She then launched News Life Media's Inside Out magazine.

Jennie Hogg

Jennie Hogg and I worked together in a call centre in Canberra nearly two decades ago. We become fast friends. I went to New York City and Jennie moved to London. She married an Englishman, had three kids and worked as a lawyer. In her 40th year, Jennie launched her cashmere shawl business called Lois Avery.

In this episode of Head Ovary Heels she tells me about starting her own business, how social media inspired her career change and what it means to balance ambition with small children.

Tanya Stevanovic

I met Tanya more than 20 years ago when we were shopgirls at Shoo Biz in the Canberra Centre. Tanya's dream was to own her own store. She did it with Pretty Dog in Sydney's inner west. It's one of Australia's most beautiful fashion boutiques in a Victorian terrace, just off King Street. Pretty Dog stocks Australian and international designers and there's flattering light in the change rooms.

Jessica Adams

We can't say enough great things about writer and astrologer Jessica Adams. Truth be told, this was actually our second interview with Jessica as our first one was a technical bust. Jessica was a total trooper and let me ask all the same questions twice.

Jessica lives between the UK and Australia. She writes horoscopes for Get The Gloss and has predictions and Chinascopes on her own website. In the `90s, Jessica wrote books that became part of the chicklit genre. She was a key instigator in the Girls Night In anthologies that have raised $3 million for children's charity War Child.